The Nerds of Hamilton

For this week’s edition of Hard NOC Life, we’re changing it up and focusing our attention on a genre that doesn’t get much attention on the site: musical theater! At a time when Hollywood still thinks it’s risky business to put people of color in their movies, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton is literally poppin’ a squat on conventional wisdom, like it or not. With its company of African American, Latinx, and Asian American actors playing the men (and women) who founded our country, Hamilton is proof that diversity equals box office. Joining Keith to talk all things Ham, are super-fan ConstanceGibbs, Hollywood Reporter Rebecca Sun, and #OscarsSoWhite creator April Reign.

Topics covered on the show include:

Connie’s high school connection to Lin-Manuel Miranda and how her Arrow recap turned Keith into a Hamilton stan

Having seen the show, Connie describes what it’s like being in the room where it happens and gives the story behind her own Lin selfie:

How Hamilton and the Hamiltome has brought diverse groups of people together

2 comments

YES! Thank you all for your perspectives. I’ve been searching for Hamilnerds of colour, should have looked at NOC first! 😉 btw, Tumblr is full of racist white Hamilton fans, so beware!

I’ve been obsessed with Hamilton for months now..
-When Lin told Kanye “This story is about you” I had been thinking it for months, and it captures something about Hamilton that a lot of people don’t talk about… It’s the story of a talented young man of colour overcoming impossible odds and rising to the top, only to find that his background keeps him from reaching the sun, and so he falls to earth like Icarus. He dies in the end, and that story is familiar. It’s also the story of the brilliant and powerful women of colour who have always stood behind talented young men, putting their hopes on them to raise their communities up, while knowing that they themselves deserve to be included, wishing all along to be a part of the narrative. It’s the story of passionate young activists seizing the means to define their own futures, to make their young nation right for their children, and pass it on to them. It was inspired by the historical events and people, but it’s NOT really about the historical Alexander Hamilton, its actually about all of us fighting for a better future today. As an activist, I get inspired by the liberatory potential, by seeing people of colour on stage, singing about revolution and hey, they aren’t on an FBI watch list. As the child of an immigrant family, I feel the pain of ambition, of sacrifice, of expectations and loss. As a woman, I feel the emotional numbness of knowing your potential and being told to stand back and wait for it.
People keep telling me that it’s corny, that its still about white people, that it’s using POC music to entertain whites. But it completely transcends all of that. It’s glorious. I can’t stop. Thanks.